A “pill” to get rid of a problem

Eli Xolyx, from Guatemala, tells how St Josemaria helped her family

June 11, 2010

I belong to a family of eleven in Santa Fe Ocana, Guatemala. My father has a rose plantation and we help him with the work. When my mother, who is now 43, was expecting her last child, she had to go to the doctor with a stomach complaint. The doctor who saw her told her to take some pills to terminate the pregnancy. He said it was very easy, it wouldn’t hurt, and then she could receive treatment and would get better without any problem.

[Read more...]

The best thing that ever happened to me

Mathilde B., biologist, France

May 28, 2010

How did you hear of St Josemaria?

When I was little, we used to say family prayers together every evening. Each child would tell our Lord about something that had happened that day, and then we’d sing or say some Hail Marys. Finally, one of the children was allowed to read the prayer on the prayercard of Saint Josemaria. I remember reading it very carefully but without really understanding everything I was saying. But I was very proud of myself because that meant I was old enough to read, and so that little job was not the sole prerogative of my elder brother, as he claimed.

[Read more...]

Thanks to the Pope and The Way

Christian Wilke works as a nurse in a prison for serious criminals. He has always lived in the east of Germany. He is a Cooperator of Opus Dei.

May 15, 2010

Until April 19, 2005, I hadn’t had any contact with the Catholic Church. That day was my 23rd birthday, and at 6 in the evening my uncle called to wish me happy birthday. Then he said that a German had just been elected the new Pope and I could see him right then on television. He hung up.

[Read more...]

My encounter with Saint Josemaria in the catacombs

Gersende, guide in Rome, Italy

May 10, 2010

At the end of September, during the European Heritage Days, in the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian where I work as a guide for French, Italian and Spanish groups, I took round a group of Spanish people and found them to be very motivated. At the end of the visit a girl came and thanked me for the depth of my explanations, and complimented me on my Spanish. Then she offered me a picture of Saint Josemaria, which, not being interested, I declined. When I told her I was from Brittany she asked where I had gone to school, and then said I must have known one of her friends. I gave her my e-mail address before she left.

[Read more...]

Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Emeritus Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine

Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Emeritus Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine, currently lives in Krakow, Poland.

May 1, 2010

What is the relevance of St Josemaria’s charisma for the Church?

Jaworski: I’m currently reading a Polish translation of a book of memoirs about St Josemaria written by his successor, Bishop Javier Echevarria. I must say it’s a book that has made a deep impression on me. I think you’d need to read this book in order to understand Opus Dei properly. His memories are written in an original way, it’s not a standard biography.

[Read more...]

Fr. Jorge Molinero, vicar of Opus Dei in Valencia, Spain

Fr. Jorge Molinero, vicar of Opus Dei in Valencia, Spain

April 30, 2010

“In the years that I knew him, I smiled and laughed non-stop with St Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei. Knowing that he was a son of God; knowing that he was in God’s tender, powerful hands; loving created things passionately, starting with people, and also admiring all the good things people are capable of doing... all of that filled his soul with a joy that was mysteriously compatible with the great sufferings that God also permits in the lives of his saints.”

[Read more...]

Escriva showed me that there is freedom in the Catholic Church

Rolf Herold, Physics and Mathematics Professor, Forchheim, Germany

April 9, 2010

Escriva showed me something that I would have never believed, that there is freedom in the Catholic Church. What I thought before about the Catholic Church was the usual clichés: coercion, narrow-mindedness, “you must…”

[Read more...]

Bishop Anthony Muheria of Kitui, (Kenya)

As the Church, we have to foster encounters between very different people, not reject anybody. St Josemaria Escriva used to say there is only one tribe, only one race: that of God’s children.

March 26, 2010

The teachings of the founder of Opus Dei help me in my work. As he inspired so many social projects, he challenges me and helps me to practise justice with charity. And his optimism encourages me to avoid escapism and fatalism. For example, although my diocese is in one of the poorest areas, dry and arid, we have a lot of hope.

[Read more...]

Roland Joffé and St Josemaria Escriva

Roland Joffé, scriptwriter, director and producer of movies.

February 28, 2010

Roland Joffé is the scriptwriter, director and co-producer of the forthcoming film There be dragons, which features St Josemaria, founder of Opus Dei, as one of the main characters.

[Read more...]

Cardinal Franz König, Archbishop Emeritus of Vienna

A man with a great heart and broad vision

February 27, 2010

I met Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer in Rome during the Second Vatican Council. I had been told that he fostered the role of laity in everyday life, in the world of work. He wanted the Church to be active in the world through the laity, without Roman collars or the bishops’ sashes. In my opinion he was a man with a great heart and broad vision. He followed events in the Council closely, and spoke about what was happening all over the world. I soon realized that in him the Church was very much alive.

What Happened?

From Atheistic Radical Feminist to Stay-at-home Catholic Mom

February 12, 2010

I have been a member of Opus Dei for almost 17 years. It enriches all aspects of my life by helping me understand everything with a supernatural outlook. In joining Opus Dei I did not change what I believed. Rather, being a member helps me to live my faith every day, and even every minute of every day.

[Read more...]

Dancing Hula in the Quest for Holiness

Jane Reckart, mother of six, studied engineering at Stanford University

January 15, 2010

I learned from St. Josemaría’s love of freedom that God made me the way he did for a reason, and as a Christian I have to be open to his promptings so I can fulfill what he wants of me. I can’t wait to find out how a Jamaican/English hula-dancing engineer with six kids fits into his plans.

[Read more...]